Jakarta – Indonesia has suspended all military cooperation with Australia over “technical” issues, the Indonesian armed forces said Wednesday, though other reports said the move came after “insulting” material was found at an Australian base.
Cooperation would resume once those “technical matters” were resolved, Indonesian military spokesman Major General Wuryanto said.
“We continue to communicate with them to sort out the issues,” he said, without giving any further details.
Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia – Special forces do a preparation security for summit World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in Monas, Jakarta, Indonesia, July 28, 2016. (Credit Image: © Dasril Roszandi/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)
The Kompas daily reported that the decision had been made in December after Indonesian army special forces trainers spotted materials in an Australian military training centre that were “insulting” to the Indonesian military.
When the trainers complained to the school, they saw more text they considered insulting to Indonesia’s state ideology, Pancasila, the report said.
Relations between Indonesia and Australia are often testy.
In 2013, Indonesia suspended military and intelligence cooperation with Australia after it was revealed that Australian spies had monitored then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s phone and those of members of his inner circle, including his wife.
– dpa
